Ultraviolet light (UV) absorbers are commonly used in golf ball cover and coating compositions to protect the product from discoloration and degradation. However, conventional UV absorbers typically have a relatively low molecular weight and can have limited solubility in the final composition. As a result, these UV absorbers tend to migrate to the surface of the layer over time. This migration may provide greater protection at the surface, but can cause interlayer adhesion problems. Migration also has an undesirable effect of introducing bloomed material into the environment.
UV absorbers with reduced migration and surface bloom for use in golf ball compositions have been previously disclosed. For example, U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2016/0059083 to Michalewich, the entire disclosure of which is hereby incorporated herein by reference, discloses a polyurethane golf ball composition comprising a reaction product of a prepolymer and a curing agent, wherein the prepolymer is a reaction product of a polyol mixture and a diisocyanate, and wherein the polyol mixture comprises 2-(2H-benzotriazol-2-yl)-4-(1,1,3,3-tetramethylbutyl)phenol.
However, there continues to be a need for a polyurethane/urea composition containing a UV absorber with further reduced migration and surface bloom.